Petition effort would block beating, strangling animals

Gene Baur is president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, whose volunteers visit farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses to document conditions and recommend more humane practices. In conjunction with the U.S. Humane Society and others, Farm Sanctuary is collecting signatures to get the Ohio Livestock Care Initiative, a proposed constitutional amendment, on the November ballot. The groups need to collect 402,275 valid signatures by June 29.

After blessing a Vatican MySpace site that featured a list of apparently Pope-endorsed songs that included ones by 2Pac and Fleet Foxes, the Vatican newspaper/Web site The Holy See recently released another list of “good/Godly” Pop songs.

What do Eminem, Lady Gaga, Guns N’ Roses, Weezer and Pope Benedict XVI have in common? If you answered questionable ties to the Nazi party, well, what the hell is wrong with you? Da Pope is actually soon to become labelmates with the aforementioned as he joins the roster of Interscope Records (or, more precisely, Geffen Records, which is now under the Interscope/Universal umbrella).